Angelina Jolie

Luxury communism means robots who’ll take care of everything we need so that we can all just chill out because, you know, “the only utopian demand can be for the full automation of everything and common ownership of that which is automated.” [The Guardian]

Christian Viveros-Fauné, the critic of the people, points out why Klaus Biesenbach’s days as a “free-floating” curator at MoMA are numbered. Board members are angry, and there’s no bureaucratic—or academic—oversight to his celebrity-ridden shows. [artnet News]

The kids still love Robin Williams so much. Here’s a pic of “The Genie” from a high-school art competition. [Imgur]

Contemporary photography could be having a “capitalist realism” moment—you know, like “social realism,” but more about money. Or, IMO, it’s just a single photographer who’s charmed by sleek, shiny architecture, and not really a powerful trend. For instance: Seidel brings up the woman with her back to the camera, a moment in Capitalist-Realist-Romanticism. Carrie Mae Weems has been doing the same thing for years, but to an entirely different, critical effect. [Hyperallergic]

Angelina Jolie offers a follow up on her preventive double mastectomy and ovary removal. Her family history of the disease was strong, and after her ovary removal last week, at age 39, they found a benign tumor. [New York Times]

A thorough review of Hito Steyerl’s films and PowerPoint lectures anchored to Walter Benjamin’s quote “There’s no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.” [ArtInfo]

Goga Ashkenazi is filthy rich so she bought the historic fashion house Vionnet because she liked it. Here’s her profile. Read it if you dare. [New York Magazine]

Further blurring of art and entertainment lines: United Talent Agency, the Beverly Hills-based talent agency known for representing actors like Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, and Gwyneth Paltrow has announced the launch of a new division called UTA Fine Arts. This new branch will help artists find financing for projects, sign corporate sponsorships, or get involved in the movie business. [Artnet via The Wall Street Journal (behind a paywall)]

Lucy Lippard receives The College Art Association’s Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing on Art. In her acceptance speech, she advises young art writers to keep their standard of living low. Sarah Douglas has the highlights. [Artnews]

A Utah high school alters yearbook photos they deem immodest. For the girls: sleeves were added, necklines raised, and tattoos removed. For the boys: nothing. [Washington Post]

Ladypockets, where women in government get the fashion treatment. Wouldn’t you like to know how to get the Justice Sonia Sotomayor look? [Ladypockets]

I woke up to a newsletter reading “Art can make people feel climate change in their gut.” This is not some miracle of art and science—it is a hyperbole and a lie. Artist Lars America Jan wants to create a cube full of water that you can stand in, while it floods and drains. [Kickstarter]

Here’s a Kickstarter project everyone loves: LeVar Burton’s online Reading Rainbow Kickstarter reaches a million dollars in just over a day. And it keeps on going, and going. As of this writing, it’s raised $2.6 million dollars. [Kickstarter]

Scientists have found a reliable way to teleport data. We’re talking about transporting quantum data—not anything that might be moved in Star Trek—but this puts scientists closer to proving Einstein’s disbelief in the notion of entanglement wrong. [The New York Times]

Every summer MoMA PS1 looks like a Berlin rave with their Warm Up series; this year, expect more DJs you’ve never heard of. [MoMA PS1]

Chicago is using zoning regulations to limit gun shops to less than 1% of the city’s geographic area in an attempt to curb gun related violence. This is a step in the right direction. [The New York Times]

Critics seem to agree that Angelina Jolie is fantastic in Maleficent, even if the movie itself isn’t all that great. [The Los Angeles Times]

A review of Quizoola!, a performance by the experimental theatre company Forced Entertainment, begins thusly: “It’s 4am and I’m struggling to stay awake while two people made up as clowns throw questions and answers each other’s way. ‘How do spark plugs and three-prong plugs work?’ I try to process this but it’s more than my battered brain can handle at this hour. The show began practically on the stroke of midnight and I’ve got 20 more hours to get through.” Here’s hoping they end up at Performa. [Frieze]

Finally, a bidding war we can get behind. Leonardo DiCaprio hosted a free-for-all, celebrity-packed auction last night at Christie’s for his environmental charity, which pulled in nearly $31.7 million. Artists donating get a tax write-off [on materials], Leo gets his tiger painting, dicks are measured, and the planet sees another day. Everyone came out on top it seems, even Dan Duray, who emerged with some very juicy sound bytes. [Gallerist]

Josh Baer’s heard that Christie’s has withdrawn a group of approximately 10 works from their upcoming Latin American sale under questions of authenticity. [Baer Faxt]

Hyperallergic’s been killing it lately. A nice longread from Alexis Clements on self marketing as an artist and the NEA 4. [Hyperallergic]

Angelina Jolie has had a double mastectomy. Her op-ed about the procedure runs in the Times today. [NYTimes]